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| 1679 |
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| Second French Senegal Company founded. | 1 |
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| 1681–83 |
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| Capuchin Fr. Celestin established a school for chiefs and notables at Whydah. | 2 |
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| 1683 |
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| Prussians built the fort of Grossfriedrichsburg on the Gold Coast. | 3 |
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| 1685–88 |
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| Dominican missions established at Kommenda, Whydah, and Benin. | 4 |
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| Mid-17th Century |
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| Outlying provinces of the Benin Empire, such as Warri and other coastal towns, began to break away in order to trade directly with Europeans. As late as 1691, Benin cavalry could still impose tribute from coastal and riverine polities, but they could no longer regulate their internal affairs. | 5 |
| Slave trade expanded in this region in the 18th century. Benin's power waxed and waned through 18th and 19th centuries but remained intact until its capture and plunder by British in 1897. | 6 |
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| 18th Century |
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| City-states along the Bight of Biafra emerged in response to political and economic conditions brought about by European demand for slaves and other commodities. The Atlantic slave trade played a key role in encouraging the evolution of coastal city-states. By the 18th century, organized political units in the Bight of Biafra controlled the trade with Europeans, especially the trade in slaves. | 7 |
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| 17th–18th Centuries |
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| The period witnessed further concentration of bureaucracy and central power in Yoruba states. Oyo became the most powerful state among the Yoruba communities of southwestern Nigeria. Its military, staffed partly by slaves, included cavalry and archery divisions. Oyo's military supremacy rested on cavalry, but horses had to be imported from the drier Sahel regions to the north. Trade, therefore, was a central part of state organization. Other Yoruba states included Igana, Ikoyi, Ede, and Iwo. Like Oyo, these states employed messengers and envoys, tax collectors, and provincial governors. Political officeholders supervised their states' major economic enterprises. Rivalries among Yoruba states led to wars, which fed the Atlantic slave trade. | 8 |
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| 1696–97 |
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| Third and fourth French Senegal Companies founded. André Brue named director. | 9 |
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| 1697–1724 |
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| The French, under André Brue, explored the Senegal region and built posts along the coast from Arguin to Sierra Leone. | 10 |
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| 1698 |
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| Royal Africa Company monopoly of West African trade abolished. | 11 |
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| 1714 |
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| Jesuit mission established in Sierra Leone. | 12 |
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| 1717 |
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| Dutch purchased Brandenburger forts on the Gold Coast. | 13 |
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